Daemon Index
by Quidell
Summary: Hello, Dawn here introducing my story in the Yu Yu Hakusho verse: Daemon Index! Join me in this awesome adventure as I face new foes along with my comrades of both new and old. Warnings: Blood, gore, crude humor, crude violence, crude everything, and a slow burn romance! Rating will change when needed.
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: Alrighty, let's just get to the point of this Author's Note - This story will not be for everyone, even if you have a general like for Original Character Fanfics, my character will seem a little overpowered. In fact, she will become a powerful character {LATE} in the YYH realm, near the end, of course. If that is not your cup of tea then I advice you to read no further, and if you do and complain later, you will be ignored. I have a set plan for this fic and I plan on sticking to it.

In the future you will not read a lot of Author Notes unless someone asks a question in a review that I think everyone should also know the answer to...or if I have something to say that needs to be addressed in the chapter.

Reading over the above A/N I feel like I'm coming off...strong...I'm really nice, I swear! At least...I think I'm nice. ...I haven't been told otherwise...

There will be a future romance and it will be with a canon character. So far I have roughly 3 seasons worth of content I want to write, so if you stick with me I do hope you enjoy!)

This chapter has yet to be proofread. (Usually when I proofread, I add, like, 1000 more words worth of details...I like details…)

When we are young, we look upon this world and only see what is in black and white. The do's and don'ts. Wrongs and rights. We don't understand quite yet that there may be a medium to our decisions; a gray area that resides in our peripheral vision, almost hiding from our direct line of sight. In our younger years, the gray areas are minuscule; hardly seen and easily overlooked if we don't know how to begin to perceive them. But, as we age and grow, so does the gray, and then suddenly, without preamble, they are just there, no longer hiding just within our sights any longer, even if we wish upon a God for them to just...disappear, they almost never do. And they probably never will. At the age of eight, I was able to see these grays, and because I was able to see what most at my age couldn't, it changed everything, showing me all that is possible, and all that shouldn't be possible, despite my better wishes and judgment.

And, of course, the first gray I was forced to bare witness was one of those impossible grays. And when that impossible came to pass, it made me obsessive, compulsive, but it gave me an undeniable goal in life, something that wasn't conventional for an eight-year-old of my time. The generation I grew up in was the ever evolving technological era where technology decided it wanted to take the specialized second industrial revolution by the gonads and twist them into resubmission, forcing it to transition into the third industrial revolution before the world could even seek retribution from its mutilated nether regions. Or, in less vulgar imagery for the sake of my first Sensei's memory, enlightened the second specialized revolution into diverging already made products and building off of them in different arrays of paths and...colorful amusement. And with the ease of living that comes with the technological advances my generation grew up with, we were basically classified as the lazy good-for-nothings: The Lazy Generation, if I wanted to be blunt.

Especially when the internet became widely available and, "God forbid", the Ipod. So when someone who was a techno junky like any other kid my age in elementary school transitionally decided she wanted to learn Japanese and a form of martial arts over a course of one single night, it was indeed a spectacle to witness, and a spectacle that was taken lightly with a simple eye roll and shrug. Thinking back now, I can understand the strange stares and whispers I'd received when I'd begged my school teachers and nannie to find me teachers who had professions on these particular subjects. I can definitely understand now when no one took me seriously the first year of my sudden descent into this obsession, everyone thinking it was a simple phase I was going through, but after a year of begging, getting into loads of trouble, and all of the other unmentionables that stay true to the very definition of being unmentionable (embarrassing) until someone took me seriously, all of my groveling had finally paid off, bringing along a tremendous amount of joy, as well as relief.

It came in the form of my first Master. He noticed me, and he took me in.

Of course, at the time, I'd thought the only reason I was finally noticed by my first Master was because of my undying affection to get my way on matters I was, at the time, underlyingly passionate about, but - that wasn't the case. In fact, it was far from what I'd thought was the truth, actually; no matter what account I anticipated it was when recounting past events. It was so far from the truth that when I'd finally came to the conclusion on the reasoning why my Master chose me to be his disciple-despite our many differences and my way of thinking at the time-from an outside source, I found the truth to be, quite frankly, rather disappointing.

But enough with the foreshadowing mumbo-jumbo that no one cares about, or rather, not understand...

I was eight at the time when I first, accidentally, entered the Makai world along with a friend of mine. I say accidentally because I came across the "portal" and decided to push my friend in as a joke, especially when he said he didn't see anything and proclaimed that I was crazy - but regardless, it was all an accident in the end. Especially since, at the time, I really didn't understand what I was getting myself into.

When I finally came to I found myself in a strange dark room. My head was foggy and I could hear voices around me but I couldn't understand what they were saying. Now that I think about it, considering how calm I was at the time, I must have had been doped up beyond belief if I wasn't freaking out even to the slightest degree. All I knew, however, was that I was lying on a cold, hard surface. After blinking slowly, lethargically, my vision began to clear and the room around me started to form into a solid edged vision as well as the people standing around me.

After my vision cleared, my dark brown eyes first found purchase to the body that was standing directly next to me, garbed in all black and seemingly blended into the dark room that surrounded me. When my eyes slowly moved up, the image of three eyes greeted my vision and all I could do was stare into those three eyes, my mouth slightly gaped in a silent awe. The two eyes, both crimson, glared down at me, the third eye on the sun-kissed forehead (I have no idea, at this descriptive moment, if I'm associating my knowledge of this person to how I know him now considering how I remember this scene with the three eyed monster having tan skin in the dark room - but for whatever reason, when I think of this particular part of my past, I distinctly remember a tan forehead) glowed an eerie purple, looking directly down, opening further in a wide embrace as the two crimson eyes turned into slits of seething daggers - the two contrasting with great efficiency.

A voice echoed on the other side of me, speaking in a language I didn't understand but the three-eyed monster-man nodded, replying back in the same language, deep and inconveniently secretive. My own eyes narrowed in confusion, my mouth opening to speak but only a gurgle came forward, making me blush in embarrassment. That was when I realized, beside the cold steel table I lied on, the rest of my small body was relatively numb; unmoving even though I tried with great effort to move my hand up or my mouth to make coherent speech. All I wanted to do was ask where I was at, why I was there, and who they were, but when I tried, I only gurgled more, embarrassing me further.

Of course, I think this further drives in my point of being drugged…

I wasn't a child that took most things so lightly, especially when presented with an unknown. And this was a big unknown, but, for whatever reason, the only thing I felt, as far as I could remember, was the embarrassment. As stupid as all that sounds. Yep. It had to be drugs. No doubt about it, bro.

When the three-eyed man looked back down at me, he spoke again, but directly to me this time around. I still couldn't understand what he was saying and when I opened my mouth, he shook his head, never breaking eye contact as his bangs swayed slightly from the small head movement.

He spoke one last word:

"Suimin."

And then I was out, succumbing to the darkness that crept into my vision from his one word that I didn't understand in my now befuddled, prepubescent mind.

Oh, the irony!

When I came to I was back in my bedroom, a throbbing headache replacing my senses as I bolted up into a sitting position. A cold sweat framed my forehead as my little brain processed what I could remember, wondering if it was all a dream but subconsciously knowing it wasn't.

But, that wasn't possible. Men with three eyes? Yeah right.

...Right?

I pulled my sheets off my small form and pulled my legs over the bed, allowing my pale sweat clad feet to touch the cool hardwood floor beneath me. It would be refreshing, in most cases, but this time around I didn't pay any heed to the relieving coolness my warm body sought but instead crept across the floor past the many beds the lined the walls until I was out in the hallway, making my way to the side of the building that the boys resided on.

Opening the door and wincing when the door creaked, I made my way into one of the rooms I knew Jaun resided in. Creeping past the beds of the sleeping boys of various ages, I tiptoed to one bed, in particular, that was located on the right side, third from the last.

To my utter relief, Jaun was lying in bed, his head facing the ceiling as he snored lightly, oblivious to the girl that was watching him with relief stricken eyes as he slept. If anyone happened to be looking in at that very second, my act of staring at a peacefully sleeping boy roughly my age with eyes alight with joy, they'd probably think the worst.

We American girls, no matter the age, had no modesty...Please note the sarcasm in that little 'statement'.

Maybe...it was a dream…Jaun looked perpetually undisturbed, even though that didn't say a lot…

I will have to say I miss those naive days of mine. So innocent and unknowing what lied behind those very walls I called home...

The body next to Jaun's bed turned abruptly, startling me and making me jump closer to Jaun's bed. When the boy didn't wake that had startled me, I crept closer until I was standing directly next to Jaun's bed, glaring at the other bed with embarrassed eyes. Moving my attention back to Jaun, I reached my little hands forward and pulled the blanket back just enough for me to easily slide in next to Jaun's slightly bigger frame than mine. Pulling the covers over both our heads, I turned in Jaun's direction, now unable to see anything but could easily hear Jaun's light snoring.

'Jaun…" I whispered softly.

No answer.

"Jaun," I whispered a little louder.

No response.

"Jaun, Jaun, Jaun, Jaunjaunjaunjaunjaun…" I continuously poked him, not daring to raise my voice as my finger plunged into his squishy cheek meat.

He took in a sharp intake of breath, snorted, then finally started to come back into consciousness. I couldn't see but I could easily imagine him slowly blinking his eyes open as recognition finally took hold.

"Dawn...what are you…" his voice started, laced heavy with sleepiness, but before he could say anything more in his loud annoying kid voice, I covered his mouth with my hands, effectively cutting him off from speaking anything more.

"Shhh," I hushed, still covering his mouth but continued on with my little episode of naivety, "It's the middle of the night, you need to keep your voice down, dumbo."

I felt something wet and hot slither up my hand and like a ricochet off an uncomfortable experience, I felt an icy cold hand run up my spine as I quickly pulled my hand away and proceeded to whip the sticky contents of it on his shirt. "That's gross!" I whispered with quiet disdain. A small gust of air caressed my face as he huffed in response.

"What you get for calling me dumbo, moran."

"You didn't have to lick my hand!"

"What, afraid I have koodies or something?"

"Those aren't real!"

"How do you know?"

"'Cause Jody told me and Jody's older than you and knows more than you!"

"Whatever." The boy huffed. "What'ja wake me up for anyway? It better not have been to call me dumbo! Not my fault I have big ears," he mumbled the last part. I heard rustling and felt the blanket lift slightly. I knew that he reached up with his hands to cover his ears, a nervous gesture he usually succumbed to when someone called him by his embarrassing nickname.

"It's not!" I whispered harshly, finding that my nerves were starting to rise with each passing moment. At that instance, I didn't doubt that my face was beginning to turn bright red. "I just wanted to ask what you remember last before going to bed, that's all!"

"What I remember last?" The boy paused, thinking as he lightly hummed. "Eating dinner, watching some TV with everyone and going to bed. Why? And why does it matter? Can I just go back to bed already? I'm tired."

"I-is that all? Nothing else?"

Was it all a dream?

"Um, like what?"

"Anything before that?"

"Hm…" He thought a moment longer, then he continued in a sterner tone," Well, I remember you pushing me into a wall!" I stayed quiet at that accusation. I did push him, but not into a wall. We both fell down some sort of hole and landed in a weird world…

He didn't remember?

"And I remember hitting my head against the brick wall," he continued, not realizing the sudden tension that overwhelmed me. "I think I blacked out, but I came to and we both walked home after that and had dinner with everyone else and then we watched some TV and then we went to bed… Why?"

I didn't remember that.

"I-I…" Pausing, I thought about what happened to me before waking up. It all felt so real, but maybe it was just a dream. "Nothing. Just making sure you're okay. Sorry for pushing you into the wall...and all…"

"Yeah...okay…" There was an awkward pause between the two of us. After a moment I sighed to myself and lifted the blanket from over my head and began to slide off the bed to make my way back to my own.

"Is everything okay, Dawn?" John asked once my now cold feet touched the wood flooring below.

I turned to look at him, the light of the moon illuminating his features giving me a clear view of his concern baby blue eyes and his bedridden shaggy dirty blonde hair. Smiling, I shook my head. "Yeah. Everything's fine, just had a bad dream is all."

He propped his head up on his shoulder as he regarded me with his sharp cool eyes. "Do you want to talk about it some more?"

"Nope." I popped the P and smiled my known toothy grin. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dumbo!"

He groaned at the nickname but didn't push me any further on the details of my dream. Tiptoeing out, I made my way back to my room.

Lying in bed, my eyes scanned the familiar ceiling above me, my eyes tracing the small divots left behind by the painters when they hurriedly painted the ceilings to meet their deadline. I counted them endlessly to get back to sleep in the past, but looking at them now didn't bring me the comfort I desired at the moment. Instead, my mind kept wandering to those eyes. It all felt too real to be a dream but I couldn't explain anything that had happened to me. I didn't remember the things Jaun had told me...wasn't that indication enough that that wasn't a dream?

Maybe I was going crazy?

Tomorrow, I concluded, I would go and see for myself if that was all a dream or not. If the portal thing is still there, then it wasn't a dream. Right?

But if it wasn't there? Should I tell someone about my imagined adventure and tell them that I didn't remember going home yesterday?

I didn't know what I was going to do and keeping that a secret was hard for an eight-year-old like myself. It was practically impossible, completely unheard of.

And to think because of that one moment of being a stupid little child would change my life so drastically. And that exceeding amount of change that instance brought upon my soon to be life would drastically alter the course of all three worlds, bringing about a change that the ruler of spirit world was unable to see before it all was too late to fix, bestowing an era of total and utter darkness.

(Next time on Daemon Index: you'll see me, Dawn, trying to uncover clues on to what actually happened to me and Juan, and what I find will change everything I ever thought was possible, setting a series of events to happen that are totally out of my control! How will I react when I find out the truth, and what will I do when I have a run in with a group of people clearly not from the human world!? Find out next time in Daemon Index Chapter 2!)


	2. Chapter 2

Small, chubby fingers curl diligently around a strap attached to a small, slender shoulder. A backpack lied heavily on a slight framed back and a worn red jacket that was passed down from other generations along with the rest of her clothes, including her torn Jean pants - swaying with each deliberate step the user took, determination etched into childlike futures. Behind the determined little girl followed her one and only friend, Jaun. He stayed a ways back; hands laced tightly behind his head as he watched his friend walk ahead, his own features set to one of boredom.

His eyes watched her as she made her way back to the park they'd played hide and seek in yesterday, finding her unusual determination out of character from her conventional ditsy-like personality. His head tilted slightly to the right. His lips pressed into a thin line as a thought suddenly struck home.

"Are you sure you just not crazy, Dawn?" he asked, unable to understand subtilty on sensitive topics, or just not caring.

Short brown curls whipped around suddenly, piercing hazel eyes now staring directly into Jaun's unsuspecting irises. "I'm not!" the girl yelled, conviction thriving heavy in her irises, igniting a flame in her child-like too-large-for-her-face eyes. "I know what I saw, dumbo!"

"Then how come I didn't see it at all!?" Jaun shot back, no longer able to look into her eyes. He could literally feel the burning determination in her stare alone. It sort of hurt. "It was probably a dream," he continued, albeit hesitantly, "No need to get worked up about it, and all."

"That's an easy one," Dawn started, turning her head forward again. "Your eyes are too small. How can you see everything with pencil lead eyes?" She laughed at his own expense.

"That's not fair, Dawn!"

"What isn't fair?"

"Why do you keep on making fun of me!? I'm gonna tell nanny on you!"

Dawn scoffed, not really caring if he did or didn't. Not like their nanny would do anything for something so small. She had other children to care for.

"Whatever, Jaun."

Dawn didn't understand why Jaun, as well as the rest of the kids, always used that excuse when something wasn't going their way. Even if their threat did fall through, didn't they realize that the consequences were never as bad as first perceived? To Dawn, she felt like she was the only one in her age group to notice this little tidbit of information.

Jaun could tell on her all he wanted. The worse she'd get was a small scolding with nothing more amounting afterward. If the threat of getting spanked ever arose, Dawn found she usually could talk her way out of a night of crying from a red bum and being made fun of by the other children at the orphanage.

"We're here!" Dawn exclaimed with excitement. She took off running in the direction of the public bathrooms when they walked past the gates to the park. Her backpack bounced behind her with every step she took.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Jaun took off after her, his own backpack swaying with each leaping jump he took as he tried to keep up with his smaller friend.

It didn't take long to reach their destination within the park, but before they could come close enough to the spot Dawn was adamant about visiting again all morning long and throughout the school day, she suddenly stopped, looking off in the direction of the enclosed bathrooms with a blank, wide-eyed stare. Jaun ran up next to her, his short breath coming in quick puffs of condensation. He looked at her with confusion, one eyebrow raised as he tried to decipher his weird friend before him.

"Why'd you stop?"

Jaun turned and stared in the direction she was blankly staring at, and when he looked, all he saw was the bathrooms and the playground stationed right behind it.

"What are they doing?"

Jaun turned his attention back to his friend. "Who are doing what?" He looked again toward the bathroom, seeing if he could see someone behind it or off into the distance, but he couldn't see anyone. They were the only ones at the playground within the park at the moment.

His question seemed to startle her back to reality, her head now turned back to her friend with wide, and confused eyes. "Those guys right there in front of the bathroom!" Her hand pointed in the direction of the bathroom again, her eyebrows creasing with each passing second. "Don't you see them? There standing right there!"

The look he gave her had her glowering back at him, his eyes searching hers as he returned her look with wry contemplation.

"Dawn," he began slowly, derisively, "There's no one there."

Dawn scowled, her lips pulled back slightly as she pointed at the scene before her. They hadn't noticed her yet, something she didn't pick up as unusual, mostly due to her young naivety.

"They're two guys standing right there, right in front of the bathrooms! How can you not see them?" Her frustration was getting the better of her, her voice rising with each passing second.

She pointed at the two figures cloaked in white robes, she watched as both of their hands were directed right at the distorted portal, yellow lightning zapping out of their palms and encircling the distorted circle of swirling energy. She did notice, from yesterday, the portal looked a lot smaller from what she could remember. When she turned her head to look back at Jaun again, he was looking in the general direction of where she was pointing, but his eyes were only roaming the area around the bathroom, not once did they land on the cloaked figures her little finger was transfixed on.

"I don't see what you see, Dawn."

And the look he gave her next had her stunned into silence. He was looking at her with pity, staring deep into the depths of her eye like he was staring at someone who was begging for food at a sideshow attraction. It made her falter; second-guessing if what she was seeing was actually happening.

Her arm fell to her side, panic suddenly settling into the pit of her stomach at the implications suddenly presented to her. Not wanting to believe the sudden thoughts flashing through her mind, she smiled weakly at her orphaned friend.

"Your kidding, right? Y-you're just playing with me, right?" she asked, pleaded.

When he continued to stare at her with the same pitying gaze, she felt a sudden anger lash out, making her turn away from him in a huff of hot air, crossing her arms in a display of defiance.

"I know what I'm seeing!" she seethed, her voice echoing around them in a half-yell. "And I'll show you, dumbo!"

Her arms fell to her side as she took a large step forward but suddenly stopped when something blurred in front of her, causing her to fall back onto her butt. Jaun let out a startled gasp, taking a step back without realizing he did.

"Ouch," grunted Dawn, her tail bone throbbing from the small impact. When she looked up to see what caused her to fall back, she suddenly gasped, then pointed an accusing finger at the perpetrator.

"It's you!" she seethed.

Blood red eyes stared down from his nose at the child below him, recognition lighting her eyes that should not be there. His eyes narrowed in a questioning glare before turning his red eyes to the other child. Another startled gasp escaped from the boy when their eyes locked, the boy's eyes growing wide in bewildered fear and apprehension that was directed toward the figure draped in all black with a white scarf wrapped precariously around his neck that contrasted greatly against his spiky black hair and black cloak.

Then something happened that had Dawn's apprehension finally peeking its head within her. She felt waves coming off of him; distemper and unease washed over her in an unfamiliar caress against the fine hairs on her skin. She couldn't comprehend what she was feeling nor did she like feeling it in the first place. It made her sudden apprehension grow, her heart now thrumming quickly in her chest as the realization of what sort of situation she found herself in finally settled into the deepest pit of her gut.

The guy was exuberating immense power that disquieted the surrounding area and easily willed it over the two children with just his presence alone. He wasn't normal, and he wasn't there by chance either, Dawn finally realized.

They shouldn't be there.

Tilting his head down, the man took a step forward that had Jaun reciprocating a step back, however, Dawn stood up when he started to advance and clenched her fists as she stood her ground, albeit shakily. The closer he got, the stronger the waves radiating off him grew. She could practically taste the tension that laced the air like oil trying to mix with water; it didn't combine well at all, making it hard to breathe for Dawn.

He stopped a foot away from them and suddenly lifted his arm. Both children gave a startled gasp, and when he waved his palm in front of them, she suddenly heard a loud thud behind her, but she couldn't look even if she wanted to, she was too scared to move. The man's outstretched hand landed on the girl, and after a beat, the man's eyes narrowed to smoldering daggers that had Dawn gulping down the pooling spit in her mouth out of reflex and trepidation.

And then, everything stopped. The waves of energy radiating off of him, the seething glares, and the taut tension diffused in the air that forced Dawn's body to stand stock still for a reason she couldn't understand - it all stopped because of one word:

"Hiei."

The man's narrowed eyes turned to the two cloaked figures behind him, one was no longer shooting electrical energy out of his palms toward the portal, but was instead standing ways away from the man cloaked in black. Even though Dawn couldn't see the eyes of the other figure, she knew they were somehow communicating, her eyes catching wisps of something moving between the air before them. What she was seeing, she couldn't understand either but didn't ponder too much on it when the red eyes were now directed toward her once again.

The man grunted and then replied back in a language she couldn't understand, his eyes still gazing down into her own as he spoke.

And then, he took a step back, angling his body from hers but still kept eye contact with the child, and like how he appeared, he suddenly disappeared along with the two white cloaked figures.

Dawn blinked, then blinked again, before she mechanically turned around and stared at her friend that was lying on the ground unmoving. With stiff, shocked limbs, she walked over to her friend and kneeled beside his body. He was still breathing, something Dawn could easily see with the puffs of hot air he was making in the cold autumn weather. Her eyes then moved up toward the bathrooms and to where the swirling mass of energy that she and Jaun fell into resided. Like the three figures, it had disappeared as well, leaving no trace that it ever existed.

Dawn felt cold. Colder than the air around her. Her mind reeled with the information she just witnesses and tried to comprehend everything that had just happened. She couldn't, of course. Her still child-like mind couldn't comprehend anything, and when it came to a logical explanation, her age lacked such knowledge.

A groan coming from below made her look down at her friend again just in time to see him open his eyes. She reached forward and rested her hand on his back as he slowly lifted himself up into a sitting position.

"Are you okay, Jaun?" she asked, concern swimming in her hazel eyes.

Jaun grabbed his head and then closed his eyes, shaking his head like he was trying to shake the fuzz that suddenly enveloped his senses as he sat back on his bum.

"Yeah," Jaun replied reluctantly. He still had his hand on his head when he turned to look at her, squinting slightly as he waited for her to come into focus. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Dawn confessed lightly, "That guy just waved his arm and you passed out." Dawn sat on her legs as she watched her friend closely, wondering if he was truly okay, but mostly using Jaun's well-being to distract her from her confusing tyrant of thoughts that were trying to overwhelm her and almost succeeding. She still felt numb after that ordeal.

Jaun just blinked at her, his confusion evident. "What guy?"

Dawn raised her right eyebrow in her own confusion. "That guy wearing all black. He had spiky hair."

Juan blinked his confusion then turned his head around to search the area around them. "I don't see anyone else here, Dawn," he said slowly.

Dawn scrunched her nose in confusion. "What do you mean? We were just staring at him seconds ago, Dumbo!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What are you talking about?"

Dawn shook her head, not believing what she was hearing. "What do you remember then?"

Juan narrowed his brown blue eyes at her question. "Well," he started as he reached up with his right hand and began massaging the side of his head, "We walked into the park and we started to run toward the bathrooms you kept talking about all day at school. And then...I think I fell down. I then woke up seeing you."

"That's not what happened!" Dawn charged back. "We came here and ran toward the bathroom and when we arrived there were two guys in white outfits shooting lightning from their palms at this swirling portal thing we fell into yesterday and you couldn't see them but I could! And then this guy appeared out of nowhere and you could see him too and then you suddenly passed out and then he disappeared and then you woke up!" Her arms flailed around her as she told her story, then stopped when she was done, giving Jaun a pointed look as she waited for his memories to suddenly pop back.

They didn't.

"What are you talking about, Dawn." Jaun shook his head and finally stood up, not believing anything he was hearing.

"But, Jaun!" Dawn stood up with him and made to grab his arm as she continued with, "How can you not remember? What's wrong with-" Jaun swiped his arm in front of him, blocking Dawn from touching him and cutting her off.

"There's nothing wrong with me, Dawn! There's something wrong with you!" he yelled. He took a step back away from her, disgust clear in his eyes. "There was nobody here, Dawn! And never was!"

Dawn followed his step back. "Yes there was! You just don't remember!" She thought back to the guy with the red eyes. "He must have done something to you. That has to be it. Listen, Jaun-"

"No! You listen!" Jaun, again, took another step back, and when Dawn made to follow him once again, he gave her a look and snarled out, "Stop moving!" She stopped, her eyes growing wide with unhinged hurt clear in her irises.

"T-there's something wrong with you, Dawn!" He looked away from her when she cringed from his statement, unable to look in her eyes as he continued, "You need help, Dawn. There was no one here, nothing happened yesterday. We did not fall into some different world yesterday. We came home after we played in the park."

"Wait, you don't understand-"

"You don't understand! There's something wrong with you." He took another step back, shaking his head again. When he looked up at her again, all she saw in his eyes was resignation; a stranger staring back at her. "Dawn - don't talk to me anymore."

"Jaun-"

"I said don't talk to me anymore you freak!"

"You don't mean that!" Dawn shot back, tears welling in her eyes. This couldn't be happening. Jaun was her only friend. She couldn't lose Jaun!

"I do mean it! I don't want to be around you anymore! I don't want others to see me around you! I should have listened to Amy...you're a freak, Dawn!"

Tears began streaming down her cheeks, but she didn't feel them. She was growing numb from the shock with each passing second. "You don't mean that…"

"Don't talk to me anymore." He turned to leave, his head hanging low.

She watched him walk away, and like before, anger welled up inside of her. It was the only thing she could feel as an overwhelming numbness overtook all her other senses. "I-I'll show you, Jaun! I'll prove to you that what I saw is real! I swear it."

"Whatever," he scoffed, not bothering to turn around and acknowledge her promise. He was done. He no longer wanted anything to do with her.

Dawn watched as he disappeared around a corner, and when he was no longer visible, she let out a soft cry, and that soft cry soon turned into a whimper, and that whimper then turned into a sob. The numbing shield she felt not too long ago disintegrated and all that was left that she could feel was sadness. And with that sadness came a resolute anger she never felt of the likes before. She clung to that anger, harboring it like a lifeline as an image of red eyes flashed in her mind.

She never knew it was possible to hate someone as much as she hated the red eye man right then.

She swore to herself right then and there she'd get her answers, and she would make the red eyed man give her those answers, no matter the cost.

Of course, at the time and years to come, I never really understood the phrase "no matter the cost" until the actual cost took more from me than I, or anyone else with a conscious, was willing to give up.

O .O .O. O. O

Hiei stared down at the scene that unfolded below. With unblinking eyes, he watched as the two human children fight over the falsified memories that revolved around the last two days that he'd created inside the young boy, but unable to replicate the same for the girl.

"It is best to leave it be as it is now than to continue confusing the child. She is still young, the memories will fade, and doubt will settle in its place." A figure cloaked in the traditional garb of spirit worlds S.D.F special forces stepped forward and stood next to Hiei as he too watched the scene unfold below.

"It is not unusual for someone like that girl to have a high spiritual awareness at such a young age, so much so that it acts on its own and protects its caretaker from any sort of threat, even from telepathy like your Jagan, without the host being entirely aware."

When Hiei only grunted a reply, the white-cloaked figure misinterpreted it as Hiei not entirely believing his words - that he worried for the human child. "She will be fine, in a year or two-"

"Don't misinterpret my silence for worry, fool. I do not care for the child's well-being, I am only curious to see the outcome of our little confrontation. Nothing more."

Silence followed after Hiei's statement. Both watched as the male child left his friend behind, or ex-friend considering how the argument ended and how the male child adamantly told the other to leave him alone for then on. Hiei, with his unblinking eyes, observed the child's face, tears streaming down her cheeks, but saw the dauntless conviction etched in the very fabric of her features.

No, she wouldn't forget. But better yet, Hiei was more than curious on how a mere child could ward off the Jagan with ease without any prior knowledge or training, to begin with; it shouldn't be possible, and now that the impossible had come to pass, he momentarily wondered what the future held. He knew from there on out that child would no longer harbor a normal human life. Since coming into contact with the Makai world and himself, her spirit awareness would only manifest into something more than a mere coincidental occurrence, and he could only wonder if their paths would once again cross.

Whatever the future held, he no longer cared. Disappearing from the treetop he stood on, Hiei left behind that child, easing her presence from his thoughts entirely.

(Next time in Daemon Index: Read as I, Dawn, search for answers to questions that no one seems to have the answers to! And what's this? Someone is willing to train me in the ways of the "martial arts"? What's the catch? Who is this new old character demanding I call him sensei, and why is he so invested in my future? Find out next time in Daemon Index Chapter 3.)


End file.
